Hand feed mechanism for fastener setting machines



p 7, 19 3. Q. J. HUELS ER 2,329,047

HAND FEED MECHANISM FOR FASTENER SETTING MACHINES Filed June 12, 1942 INVENTOR.

423 By Off!) I ffz/e /s/mf Patented Sept. 7, 1943 UNlTE STATES P TE T 1 tFlE HAND FEED MECHANISM-FOR FASTENER SETTING MACHINES 1 Otto J. Huelster, Waterbury, Conn, assignor to Scovill Manufacturing Company, Waterbury, 0011111., a. corporation of Connecticut Application June 12, 194.2,Scrial No. 446,837

3Claims. (01.218-) My present invention relates to hand feed mechanism for fastener setting machines and more particularly to such machines which are foot operable by a treadle or the like.

Foot operable fastener setting machines as heretofore made and in extensive use at present .are of two types (1) wherein'the fastener elements are automatically fed to the respective dies in synchronously timed relation upon each operation of the treadle and (2) wherein the fastener elements are hand fed to the dies. The automatic machines are costly, are not necessary for certain types of work and require considerable 7 time for repair or adjustment should anything go wrong with the feed mechanism. The hand feed machines, as heretofore made and used, have a chines novel delivery feeds for the fastener elements to the dies whereby the feed of the elements is greatly facilitated and the production of the machine is enhanced.

The invention will be better-understood from the detailed description whichfollows when considered in connection with the accompanying drawing wherein I have shown certain preferred" embodiments and whereinp V Fig. 1 is-a perspective view of the upper portion of a fastener setting machine embodying my inventicn.

Fig. 2 is a fractional front eleVdlJiOn of the upper die and dieeblock of the machine shown in Fig. 1. I

Fig. 3 is a section taken substantially along the plane of the line 3'3,of Fig. 2'.

Fig. 4 is a section taken substantially along the plane of the line 44 of Fig.2.

,Fig. 5 'is a section taken substantially along the plane of the line 55 of Fig. 2. r

Fig. 6 is atop plan view of the lower die, dieblock and delivery feed shown in Fig. 1. t Fig. 7 is a section taken along the plane of the linel-l of Fig. 6, and e I Fig. 8 is a section takensubstantially along the plane of the line 88 of Fig. '7. 4 A i ili he, draw ng. here shown ."a; f e

tener setting machine having a plunger Hi which is slidable in a bearing 1 land adapted for'reciprocationtherein bya rocker arm H2 in a wellknown manner. -,The-lower end of the plunger 10 is recessed as shown at 13 and, has secured therein an upper die 14 by means of a set screw i5, a portion of the bearing ll being cut away as at IE to provide a clearance for such'set screw.

" The lower end of the die It is formed with a recess I! of a form which is complementa] to the fastener element, upon which the die is intended to act coincident with the fastener setting operation.

Carried by and movable axially of the die M is a hollow die-block it, said parts being connected by means of a longitudinal slot l!) in the'die and a pin extending therethrough and'anchored in the die-block. Pivotall'ymounted upon pins 21 in recessed walls at;opposite sides of the'dieblock are a pair of jaws 22 which ar normally urged inwardly toward each other by coil springs 23, the inward movement of said jaws being limited by flattened ends on stop pins 24- as best shown in Fig. 5. The jaws-2'2 are'adapted to r supportafastener element when received within the die-block-andto .give or move outwardly upon being subjected to force by the fastener element when the latteris moved through the dieblockbythedie'l i. vi

To facilitate the introduction "orthe feeding of a fastener element to .the dieeblock l8, 1- have formed therein an inclined delivery feed or chute 25 extending upwardly-and outwardly-from above the jaws:22 through one wall of the block. Preferab1y,-the wall of the die-block through which the feed or chute 25 extends is formed with a lateral projection 26 and it 'is through the intersection ,of the top and outer end of said lateral projection that the feed or chute 25 extends. In

forming the die-blockvwith 'a lateral projection and chute as above described; I have provided both visual and manual means'fo-r facilitating the introductionof the fastener element intothe dieblock since the senses of sight and/or'touch, may be utilized, and in view of theinclinatio-n of the chute; gravity operates 'upon the fastener element when introduced into thedi'e-block to guide and positionsaidzelement upon the'jaws.

Mounted on the table ofthe machinein axial alignment with the upper die I4 is a lower die or anvil 21, the upper face of which isofia form complemental to the fastener element upon which the dieis intended to act after said element has been set 'by' the die and slidab-ly .inounted' onthe lower die21 is a die-bl-oclz unit jaws 32 of a character quite analogous to thejaws 22 above described and mounted in the dieblock in substantially the same manner as the jaws 22. The guided and slidable mounting of the die-block 28 upon the die2'l is also provided in a manner similar to that of the die block [8, namely through the provision of a pin 33secured. in the die-block and extending through a slot 34 in the die. 7

The die-block unit 28 includes a lateral projection .35 having formed therein a longitudinally extending recess 36 and mounted on the projection 35 to constitute a part thereof is a cover up the complementary or cooperating fastener element from a right-hand supply source and drop it into the lower delivery feed, and with one of the fingers of said right hand she will engage the button 43 and move the pusher inwardly so as to position the fastener element on the lower die. When this is accomplished, the article or material to which the fastener elements are to be attached is positioned between the dies and the treadle operated to bring the dies into setting relation to set or attach the fastener elements 'to the article or material. It will "thus be appreciated that the feeding of fastener elements with the aid of the present invention is not only greatly facilitated, because the opera vides a definite and decided safety feature for plate 31 which provides'a longitudinal recess 38 of flattened cross-sectionextending substantialwith a circular opening 39 which leads intothe recess 38 and is adapted to provide for the introduction of afa stener element to said recess. To facilitate the introduction of such fastener element into said opening 39, the upper surface of the :plate 3! surrounding part of said opening is curved, bent of tapered downwardly as shownat E0. The inner end of the pusher rod '38a"is formed with a substantially semi-circular recess adapted to engage the base of a fastener element when introduced into the recess 38 and said inner end of the pusher rod is normally held Within the recess 38 at a point outwardly of the opening 39 so as to permit the entering'fastener elementto seat on the base of the recess 38 in advance of the pusher rod. The pusherv rod is normally urged and held in this outward posibe engaged by the inner end of the pusher rod 33a as the latter is moved inwardly or toward the die-block to feed such fastener element to the die 21 in the die-block 28. v

It will be noted that the feed or chute 25 which is intended to receive one of the fastener elements and the feed recesses 39 and 38 which are intended to receive a cooperating fastener element are disposed on opposite sides of the die-blocks with respect to the front of the machine' By virtue of this arrangement, an operator is thusenable'd to feed one of. the fastener elements with the left hand and the other of the fastener elements with the right hand.

In the operation of the machine, an operator, usually a woman, will pick up one fastener element with her left hand from a left-hand supply source which she will insert into the upper delivery feed, and with her right hand will pick the machine since the operators fingers are not brought into the line of movement of the setting dies.

Although any kind of trays or receptacles for holding the fastener elements may be used and may be disposed in close proximity to the respective feed means, I'have found that bymounting trays of a special character in a manner as shown in Fig. 1 that the feeding of the fastener elements is still further facilitated. These trays are identified by the reference numerals 43 and 41 and are each adjustably mounted to a part of the machine. The tray 46 is uncovered and formed with an open guide trough 48, the end of which is disposed in juxtaposition to the outer end'of the chute '25 in the upper die and the tray 41 is also uncovered and formed With an open guide trough 49, the end of which is disposed in overlying relation to the cover plate 31 in juxtaposition to the opening 39 therein leading into the recess or delivery feed 38. From the disposition and Character of the trays 45 and 41, it Will be at once apparent that'insteadof an operator being obliged to physically pick up and introduce the fastener elements into the respective delivery feeds, the engagement of an element upon the trays by asingle finger of the operator and the imparting of a sliding movementto the element will S'llfilce to accomplish this transfer. i

From the foregoin'g'detaile'd description, it Will thus be apparent that I have provided a simple of fastener elements to a. fastener setting machine and have accomplished this in a Way which also eliminates the hazard of injury to the operators fingers in the carrying out "of such operations. p t

The device, as disclosed, although considered by me to be a preferred embodiment of my in- Vention, it is to be understood that I do not wish to be limited to the precise details of construction as disclosed since. these may be varied Within the range of 'engine'eringskill without departing from the spirit of the invention.

What I claim is: V

1. A fastener setting machine comprising a setting die, a die-block carried by and movable relatively to said die, said die-block having spring actuated jaws for supporting 'a fastener element and having an inclined guide chute extending upwardly and outwardly from above the jaws through one side of the block for'receivingand delivering by gravity to the jaws a fastener element when inserted into said chu'te, and an uncovered traydispo-sedlaterally of the die-block and having an open guide trough the end of g which is in juxtaposition to the outer end of the guide chute in the die-block when the latter is in normal relation to the die, said tray having a substantially smooth horizontally disposed base .for holding fastener elements and providing a surface over which the fastener elements may be manually fed by a sliding movement into the inclined guide chute.

2. A fastener setting machine comprising a die, a die-block carried by and movable relatively to said die, a delivery feed through which aflstener element can be fed to the die-block, and an uncovered tray disposed laterally of the delivery feed and having an open guide trough the end of which is in juxtaposition to the fastener receiving opening in the delivery feed when the latter is in normal relation to the die, said tray having a substantially smooth horizontally disposed base for holding fastener elements and providing a surface over which the fastener elemen-ts may be manually fed by a sliding movement into the delivery feed.

3. A fastener setting machine comprising an upper'die and, a lower die, each die having a dieblock which is carried by and movable relatively to the die I and formed with a delivery feed through which a fastener element can be manu-' ally fed to thedie-block, the delivery feeds on the respective die-blocks being disposed on opposite sides thereof with respect to the front of the machine, and uncovered trays disposed respectively laterally of the delivery feeds in the die-blocks, each tray'having an open guide trough the end of which is in juxtaposition to the fastener ree ceiving opening in a delivery feed when the latter is in normal relation to its respective die, said trays each having a substantially smooth horizontallydisposed base for holding fastener v elements and providing a surface over which the fastener elements may be manually fed by a sliding movement into the respective delivery feeds. I

OTTO J. HUELSTER. 

